The value addition is highest in Marketing and hence has the highest margin.

Understand Madagascar miners are not digging up prepackaged face rollers.

Nobody is taking that 40 Euros from your pocket for a worthless shiny rock. Its your believe in hocus pocus that created the market for this exploitation

agreed this is extremely pitiful! What a great journalist. thanks so much for bringing this insight yet heartbreaking piece. how ironic that rose quartz is desired as the crystal of unconditional love, yet it's origins are fraught with despair.

Yes, This is absolutely insane

Hahaha

Underated comment

what you even know about it honey. so you're saying that ancient Chinese people didn't know what they're doing ? they used these stones centuries ago. and thanks god you uncovered the truth. ridiculous!

​@@venturous123yeah right, because chinese culture is so typically compassionate to those around them and thrir environment 🙄

@@studiouskid1528 you don't say

The world could be transformed with more people like yourself AND those that are willing to prosecute the actual people committing crimes against humanity, instead of protecting the evil ones with the wealth.

yes, friend! same exact story. branding+marketing+ packaging design in the beauty industry. society is so lost and brainwashed...

Everything is vanity. When you think of the animal testing that goes into making cosmetics and how many animals die for humans to have false eyelashes and things like that. Pure evil.

Can you link some good information or documentary🙏

I'm happy you chose something else. Cultivating human beauty has value of course, but people are causing a lot of harm while doing so. Beauty interwoven with ugliness and pain...The same can be said about biodiversity and the environment. Example: Most people agree we should do more about "protecting the bees". But the most endangered ones that we need to protect are the native bees and bumblebees, not the honey bee (humans will never allow this one to die off)! And when it comes to keeping piles of wood on your property for shelter, planting native flowering plants and mowing your lawn much, MUCH less frequently to allow access to flowers for the pollinators, then it becomes a problem because people still want their golf green grass and "perfect looking" yard, even if this means it's usually an ecological desert compared to what it could be without such practices...Looks, looks above everything else.

Cathartic

This is the same thing for a lot of farming industry. Ask most cocoa farmers if they’ve ever eaten chocolate in their lives. Probably not, or just very little. Fair trading is a little step ahead. I hope minerals mining can get such baby step as well.

And for such a superficial product that likely doesn’t even work

To be fair like 90% of those little weird things are probably not even real rose quartz 😂

One thing on price though: Maybe some places sell them for 40 euro but in the US online I'm seeing many at $18-25. There are some "luxury" brands selling at around 30-40 though. But when it's so easy to find it for less I wonder how they even sell at that $40 range. Regardless, something is broken af if both parents are working and they need the children to also. I'm not finished watching but wonder how to improve this. Making it illegal clearly doesn't stop it and doesn't fix the problem.

Same thing happens in the documentary Behind the Swoosh on vimeo - covering Nike's injustice

How about the people putting them in the mines in the first place? Everyone always wants to punish and blame the consumer when all they've done is spend some money. Attack the real criminals.

@@celestielsigh I agree. I think healing crystals are silly, but the people buying them usually have no idea about the system they are funding. I think hating people (mostly women) for believing in spirituality and using crystals is rooted in misogyny. It's like, Instead of hating the women buying the crystals, maybe hate the (mostly) men enslaving people to produce the crystals.

I would not want to see this mining stop, only circumstances better. It's great that people are buying this, it's job creation. Remember that those who buffs the stones do have a greater expense, so they will charge more, Madagascar should treat their people better. I'm sure the Indian and Chinese factory workers are also not ideal. What this documentary doesn't explain is that as the stone is being processed and move up the line, the expenses increases, this isn't all that realistic.

If it's not crystals it's ivory. I don't think crystal enthusiasts are any better than traditional Chinese medicine or new-age mysticism it all seems to stem from the same woo beliefs and all of it is needlessly harmful and exploitative.

@@Naranylla exactly

tha means your product will cost more. Companies do that not only to make more profits but sell their products at lower price. Cause people would rather spend 40$ on a stone than 200$ on same stone

@@mrbob4104 I think the stone is worth $200 if these people gotta live like that

@@mrbob4104 Most of the price increase is because of resellers/middle men. Not because of mining, processing, developing etc. Also $40 is a stretch. These rollers can be found for less than €10 in physical stores in Europe (so I'm not even talking about AliExpress, or Chinese stuff on Amazon). I'd gladly buy it for €10 or more, if the added amount would fully go to the miners.

​@@mrbob4104they make too much profit. Reduce their profits and the prices can stay the same while the bottom line gets a bigger percentage

You realize they use children for this labor, they do the same when mining mica in India for your cosmetics, more than 50.000 children (under the age of 12) are used to mine so you can feel pretty, and they don't earn good money, a smile to the camera doesn't mean happiness, stop romanticizing poverty and hard labor.

@@whointhewhat what do you mean exactly?

@@Smydr1006 look up how phones are made

@@Smydr1006 the device you used to post this comment is made possible by silicon chipsets and lithium ion batteries. The data centers that power the networks you rely on to access the internet and signal your virtue all require copious amounts of rare earth minerals and energy. Those raw outputs are all produced in far worse conditions than the ones shown in this documentary. He's simply pointing out the hypocrisy of your selective outrage since you obviously won't give up the things you own that are produced in horrid conditions via underaged and exploitative labour.

LOOK UP Cobalt and Lithium Mining in Africa​@@Smydr1006

What upsets me the most is that people are stupid enough to believe that these stones have healing properties.

You are assuming what you should be trying to prove (or disprove). People aren't inherently good or bad, these are epistemic constructs of relative interpretation with respect to the particular environment people inhabit. You can read on the fundamental attribution error and situationism, to start with.

You learned a great lesson. ❤

it's all bcuz of greed

sadly it was always like that and that wont ever change. We as creatures are greedy at nature, some when getting the taste of what the high life is, become addicted to it. And like a crack addict wont stop to get their next dose no matter what, so do they. At the expense of others lives

@@retarded1651 🎯😥💯🥴🦾🗽💞

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@@DWDocumentary Poor response. As if the commenter needed your recommendation.

@@martamariotto1181 not for you to judge😂

They should do one on hazardous materials sold as "pretty natural stones" - like the so called "zebra jasper"... aka CHRYSOTILE ASBESTOS sold on every possible platform. Sometimes the sellers/brands have no idea they are selling a banned hazardous material - a splash of vinegar from your Caesar salad and it starts shedding fibres. But if you confront them, they just deny deny deny, coming up with unverifiable explanations how this is not this particular stone or is a composite instead. It's best to google what it looks like so that you have a chance to avoid buying it masquerading as some other jasper or "composite" stone if you like that sort of thing. I've seen those everywhere from Zalando, to Otto to ASOS. And lots on Ali, of course... I can only imagine the conditions in which these asbestos stones are mined and crafted into jewellery, most likely workers have no idea they're inhaling incredibly hazardous dust and have no way to protect themselves anyway.

@@user-dg1zp3ym1k Says who

I agree with you

I dont think most people understand this trend well, including the people who practice it, because its an evolution of spiritual beliefs that incorporate crystals (ex: sumarian, budhist, etc). For whatever reason this is never mentioned in documentaries and they just present it as "look at this silly new belief" (not new at all)

North Korea Jr.

There are 13 year old working illegally in meat factories in the USA. This is a worldwide issue that has more to do with capitalist exploitation than a country’s economic prosperity.

The government knows, and they don't care. The higher ups are keeping all of the money. Same is said for pretty much any government, though. :/

Looking at your replies...Why is it that when someone talks about a problem in a specific place? People come out with "yeah but there are kids working in (insert a developped country) so it's a overall problem". Believe me if those children would be given the chance of living a normal childhood in any developped country, they wouldn't hesitate a second to take it. It's good that these documentaries are out to show how ugly things really are behind the shallow practices from people all over the world.

Strange that they don't have Free indoctrination camps for the kids like the rest of the world.

I agree about the anonymity, however the retaliation occurs in all countries. $$$

Very true

The "regulatory" person has a shady job and she knows it. That's what she gets for supporting that nonsense and trying to hide the country's corrupt practices. Agreed about anonimity of those interviewed.

They be creatin 42:26 length videos like some OCD kid.

Absolutly, I really think DW and others should review this matter and make it policy to better protect the brave yet vulnerable. Forget artistic licence, when the cameras are gone, the situation for those caught speaking up could deteriorate. The Madagascan government should hang their heads in shame, they just seem to want their people to be in perpetual poverty, in service to others.

Chinese here....guasha really helps to make you relax tho the process i painful (like massage), but there's really no need to buy expensive gemstone guasha tools. My mother and grandmother use our normal porcelain soup spoons from the kitchen to do it.

Can you guess who mined the crystals inside the cell phone you're using right now??!!!!

Exactly and many people don't know this including that stones don't really make you happier or spiritual effects or whatever salt rock lamps don't make you happier either Scientists proved that

@@andrewreynolds912 did the scientists find that out? Where n when? I don't know when they became popular. All of a sudden I noticed u cld buy them in shops. At prices I wouldn't pay.

Capitalism and globalization fuelling human greed at work.

The stone is a commodity, similar to thousands of other commodities. In a global market, this kind of situation is just not avoidable and unstoppable. The kids in Madagascar need the money but with few options for them. At least they can work and earn something by digging and shipping the stones, which is helpful to their family and themselves. Even if the end sellers in EU strictly demand to get rid of children labors and improve the working conditions (higher pay for frontline workers, diggers, shippers, insurance, equipment, personal protection equipment, or even air-conditioning at work sites, and whatever the Western media and readers feel morally better), it is impossible to implement without sending onsite Q/A control and inspectors. These all cost money. Shall end sellers raise the price to compensate for these additional cost? Sure, why not?! Then the market will unavoidably shrink, and this will eventually feedback to Madagascar and the kid labors will either earn even less or there will be less labors. Don't fool yourself. Nobody can change these and child labor will exist for many years to come in underdeveloped countries. And you know what? The kids do not feel they are being exploited. They are happy with these jobs.

As usual, great journalism. These mining labor problems are similar to coffee farms and others all over the world. When companies are even putting the label as ' Fair Trade' I've been doubting since Ive watched these documentaries. People just dont wanna think what we are buying are from forced labour, and can imagine deep down to the supply chains what stages of these peoples working conditions are fair and legit, it is very sad to hit the reality. Simply not buying products wont help changing the conditions of global south.

ppl dont know anything about money. thats why. and it happens in america too. people who dont know anything are working shitty low wage jobs which in terms of how rich America is, is almost as bad as these people in madagascar

They would be millionaires

It could be any hard, polished surface.

You could just use a smooth stone from a river or beach.

Yes, this is the major downfall of capitalism

If you want to blame Capitalism then know it is the lesser of two evils. To destroy capitalism you must destroy human rights and all civil rights. Because that’s the only way to ensure everyone is equal.

A guard should be placed in that area. Children, pregnant women and the elderly should be prohibited from mining there. Legal miners should also be well paid. Edit:I used a translator sorry if the Grammar is Wrong

The problem is the Monetary Market system itself... the method practiced does not matter... capitalism, socialism, communism, fascism, etc all follow the monetary-market system. "Human well-being and social progress are always secondary to monetary gain." -Peter Joseph

Only possible by Democracy. By blood of brave citizens.

Madagascar is a democratic country with a multi-party, presidential system of government. The government is composed of the president, prime minister, and cabinet members, with the president elected by the national electorate. The Constitution of Madagascar guarantees basic rights and freedoms, including freedom of speech, freedom of the press, and freedom of religion. Additionally, Madagascar has signed many international human rights conventions and agreements committing to protecting civil rights and freedoms. However, Madagascar still faces challenges such as political corruption, poverty, and inequality, which pose obstacles to its democratic development and social progress. So democracy is not the solution here

Perhaps they just need to use the right crystal

Thank you for watching and your positive feedback :)

Agreed thank you for helping bring this to light as I have been studying this as well. Do you have anyone to contact to ask more personal questions about this matter for my research as well? I wish to learn more and have an opportunity coming up to ask some questions about this topic and trace where stones and suppliers in my area get their suppliers and how much they are aware of these issues or see what I can find out as well. If you could provide an email or contact to discuss this further please do let me know. Any way to contact w privacy w be greatly appreciated on this matter thank you.

Eye-opening documentary.... Yeah, showing that people who believe in magic stones are stupid for supporting something so inhuman is reaaaaally eye-opening, lmao.

Claps for them!!!!!!❤❤❤

I hope one day your situation improves ♥️❤

@@cleohettori8725 Thank you so much this means a lot to me.

I hope you regain full strength and recovery 🙏

Well, conspiracies were also just 'fun' 30 years ago and look at them now. It's kinda internet's fault but it's sad since internet brought us insane access to education yet we use it the opposite way...

It's because we still had a brain back then! 😂😂

Well rocks and crystals do have electromagnetic vibrations to them and the structures themselves are very organized structures which can transmit frequency. This is why it’s always been used in watches to keep time, it transmits frequency to move the dial and watches that run on Quartz are more accurate than electric watches. So it’s not really made up it does conduct energy. Whether that energy is healing I don’t really know.

Most people I know just like them for the fun of it, something physical that has value attached to project your wants and needs onto. At least that's what I've seen but it's also the opinion I hold so there's a bias.

If the crystals had healing properties then the miners would live to be the oldest humans on earth no?

Well. Apple is protecting rights of Chinese workers. They did check around on small components supplying factories regarding workers working conditions and accommodation and salaries. Thank you for that. Those Chinese stone products suppliers might not be stone importers, the importers and African exporters might not communicate regarding mining situations. It is difficult for them to get involved in mining operations in foreign land. And I do think African workers do need the job. Best options will be having investment locally. Whole mining. Production and finished production exporting all in one. That can make easier control.

The Chinese has no control over the mining conditions surrounding the Nigerian miners. They often don’t get to talk to the miners at all, only the local exporter in charge, so they don’t get to see what’s happening at the mine. African mine owners often ask the Chinese to buy from them and say it’ll give the locals a job to do, and the Chinese does because they believe it’s better to give the miners a way to support their family and in the Chinese’s eyes it’s not as expensive as say Swiss quartz. But believe it or not, the owners in charge often force the Chinese businessmen to engage in covert price manipulation. This has been happening a lot with certain Namibian crystals. Stop blaming the Chinese people when they’re just one part of the supply chain. Punish the corrupted mine owners who do this. From what I heard, Nepalese Himalayan crystals are slightly better because most Nepalese miners are heavily religious and don’t believe in this over exploitation of premium thing. Their miners are way more protected or at least acts way more safely when mining, and that’s why the crystals are slightly more expensive. Nepalese spend 1/3 of their year MIA, for “wholesome” reasons, like engaging in cultural activities, so they don’t receive phone calls or anything at all, even if you pay them. So the Chinese need to pay them more for their small but safe produce and also for the time they’re absent throughout the year. They engaged directly with the miners so the Nepalese miners get all the profit, the Chinese only slightly, and the Chinese consumers are willing to pay because the origins are more ethical. If the Chinese were responsible for harsh Nigerian conditions, well they’re also just as responsible for the harmony, safety and prosperity of the Nepalese miners. But that is not the case, the Namibian mine owners are responsible for their atrocities and the Nepalese miners’ communal values are credited for their prosperity. The Chinese are just the consumers paying for everybody’s food on the table but have no say on how it is shared.

Well said!

Thank you for watching and taking the time to comment! We're glad you liked the documentary. :)

We still do

Thanks for your positive feedback!

Possibly

In 2013 I was studying this topic and I found a journal publication which said something about the salt miners earning less than $2 a day and how "fair trade" was corrupt because the price charged for the end products doesn't filter down to the workers on the land ($50 for a salt lamp at the time, where I lived!). I can't find the specific Himalayan publication now but you can certainly google uneven distribution of revenue/corruption in fair trade and find many results. It's a very heartbreaking story that is often repeated inside the narrative of 'helping poor countries develop their economy" 😞

Himalayan salt is rust ❤

@@starlightpancake Given that iron oxide gives the salt its colour, I think you're onto something.

My mom lived there and brings me rose quarts when she goes. She said the same thing that they are everywhere

Can you guess who mined the crystals inside the cell phone you're using right now??!!!! Did you watch Dr. Shiva Ayadurai 's videos?

Thank you for watching and sharing your positive feedback :)

Would it be possible if someone can comment if there is any static/structural engineer that would analyze the safety of those mines?

yeah and don't forget about Bonobo track as well. Germany = perfect music taste. forever and ever

And Moderat!

Mind blown by the stupidity of people and even worse how easily people fall for unethical marketing. Specially this gem stone industry seems to be just full of darkness, I wouldn't want to rub some stones on my body that are just filled with so much negativity, hard work, tears and death (I mean if I was superstitious and believed in good and bad energy).

these are the same people that religions thrive on for millenniums

​@@14489new age religion basically. Human tend to trend to religious practices one way or another which is eh, kinda sad

commodity fetishism at its peak

Human history is full of cultures believing pretty rocks will heal them or give them powers. It’s honestly strange why such beliefs are so widespread. Like we have to give justification for simply enjoying things that sparkle.

Thank you for watching and for the positive feedback. :)

where there is demand there is supply .. its not only about influencers ... ppl literally geting dumber and dumber

Too many people follow stuff that is promoted by influencers or just what is trending on social media. We don't need to follow any influencer. We are ALL individuals. Agreed DW is excellent!

Influencers are usually narcissistic.

I also wondered why people believe "influencers", those people behide the screen could be just actors hired to do the job, we as an audience have no way of really knowing much about the "influencers" education, knowledge, background, experience and they change their recommendations depending on the sponsor , so obviously they're not being honest, so why do people let some random people(influencers) on the screen influence them?

👏👏👏

Stopping them where will the workers get their money? Do you have a way to make them not starve to death?

What do you propose we do to help these people? If people stop buying the stones they will sink into poverty even further. But exploiting dangerous work conditions and child labor is also unacceptable. Only enforcement of regulations and them getting money from the government or elsewhere can help the situation.

Majority of clothes you wear, standard cosmetics, even your everyday makeup is most likely unethical, are you willing to give it up too? I just don't like this blaming the customer for everything when it's in fact the companies exploiting this people who are to blame for those conditions.

Thanks a lot for watching and taking the time to comment!

Ketemu orang indo yang komen :') sad to know about this happening in madagascar

yes sir, you are on point!

So great to bring up the economic perspective side. Having added value definitely would change the economy of Madagascar a lot but corruption and selfishness of the government is ruining the country. Not only to mention the strangeness of that media lady at the beginning. By the way, it is so amazing to see the similarities of the language as you mentioned at the end. Actually, rock is vato in Malagasy and if there is a prefix it would become -bato (we pronounce o as « u »)

👏💯

Exactly instead of crystals that don't actually do anything

Well i guees rocks do have some subtle power, from ancient times isn't emperor seals also made from jade stone? From Aaron breastplate with twelve stones? New Jerusalem with multicolor stones?

I'd recommend developing critical thinking skills, first and foremost.

I don't believe any of this. It is all pagan.

Thanks for watching and for your constructive feedback! :-)

Can you guess who mined the crystals inside the cell phone you're using right now??!!!! Did you watch Dr. Shiva Ayadurai 's videos?

Thank you for watching and taking the time to comment :)

Can you guess who mined the crystals inside the cell phone you're using right now??!!!! Did you watch Dr. Shiva Ayadurai 's videos?

Thank you for watching us!

Thanks for sharing your thoughts and your feedback!

You are watching this on a device powered by precious minerals and elements inhumanely mined.

Thanks for watching and sharing!

Glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for watching :)

Thank you for watching and taking the time to comment!

Thanks a lot for watching and for your positive feedback. We appreciate you taking the time to comment and are glad you like our content!

Thank you for watching and taking the time to comment. :)

Thank you for watching! We're glad you found the documentary helpful.

It would have been nice if this doc added that side of the story. What is the cost of shipping and working the gem into a product? These cutting factories add value .

they even bought the raw rose quartz themselves. A lot of it under the implicit understanding that they would do business with this woman over an extended period of time, maybe 5 years. Now their backyard looks like a quarry, so full is it of the raw material.

@@banalarousal4310 can't they work the material and sell it independently online?

@@DSGLABEL In my opinion Its complicated. Other than the language barriers (none of them speak english very well) there are other cultural barriers. Thai people are very hard workers, most are very kind, have a refined and sensitive aesthetic appreciation and highly skilled craftsmen... but to find a thai person with the particular kind of initiative it would take to start a business of that sort is pretty unusual. Thai people are not ambitious or farsighted planners and though not submissive (the country takes great pride in never having been subject to colonialization) workers usually require explicit instruction to know what to do everyday and in what order or else they will just sit on their hands. Entrepreneurship is a wild west of sorts, it is not something that it is so common for a thai person to excel in. It is better for this family to do the labor and have others market and sell.

@@banalarousal4310 I see. That's unfortunate. If you ever get some video of their craftsmanship, I'd love to see what they make.